First dive at 40 meters - Newbies recreational

[Dody]

Do not change the settings from the default atm. If you feel puzzled then you cannot understand why there are differences. You are not ready for this yet. The reason dive computers for recreational divers have more conservative settings is to keep them safe. Learn to dive to your computer as it is. I think you are trying to be a good diver but are trying to squeeze in the experiences of others which are not your own. You are trying to rush things and I can say when I was a new dive like you I did the same thing. Take all the advice you can here as it is free. SB is like your I can ask questions and get answers. Sometimes the answers we will not like. There as no SB back in 1986 so I only had the BSAC club instructors, dive leaders and experienced divers I could ask at training sessions or at the club or on the boat.

I never rely on a DM the DM is a guide I have to dive to my own settings and monitor my own air and depth.
I would take issue more with your DM that he allowed you to get into an unsafe dive situation as you are on a training dive and your first deep dive to 40m which you exceeded. You think your DM is a good diver because he is a DM. You think your instructor is a good instructor but where was your instructor on your training dive? Sipping a latte back at surface? Not with you on the dive that we know.

Did you tell your instructor you exceeded 40m depth and probably exceeded NDL when you struggled to ascend. If you were struggling to ascend why didn't your DM assist by putting some air into your BCD and giving you an assisted ascent? Your wife is there why did she fail to recognize this as well. You have not answered was this also her first training dive to 40m. Is she also a student doing the course together with you? Reviewing the dive log with your instructor would be a good thing to do.

Maybe get your instructor to read this thread.

My wife and I have exactly the same diving experience. Same training, same dives. Now, one thing to put in perspective is that neither the DM nor my wife have had the same feeling that I had. For them, everything was under control and there was nothing to worry about. We were not ascending too slow for them, we were not too far from the reef even though we were drifting, we still had visual and we were not in deco. And when we reached the reef at 25 meters, we had almost exactly the expected gas pressure in our tanks and we could see the bottle at 5 meters with no current.
Near miss, ok.

 

[Blackcrusader]

I was neutrally buoyant at 40 meters. If there is one thing I do correctly is being neutrally buoyant at all times except ascending or descending fast. So I had air in my bcd as I added air regularly during the descent. I also constantly use respiration techniques to move up or down a few meters or fine-tune my buoyancy control. That’s how my SAC went down from over 20 to 11 in average. 20% of the time, I am not even finning just hovering. For the rest, I got it.

You sac is not 11l/m average. You have to count all your 37 dives not just the last few dives where you are at your best of 11l/min. You don't average it from your last few dives and pick the best ones and make that your average. Also your last dive was 14l/m so you just blew your 11l/m out of the water so to speak.

Yes you can say you improved from 20l/min to say a best of 11l/min but your average sir is not 11/lmin as demonstrated on your deep dive. Your next dive could be diving against a current for the whole dive. What will your sac rate be then? In fact I deliberately do dives against the current for a whole dive. We look at the tide charts and plan on a workout dive. Oh yeah these will test you, ever had a serious leg cramp or both legs cramp on a dive? Ever had to battle that exhausted state against a current? Been to the point where exertion leads to near hyperventilation and seen a divers fear in their face when they get to that point? Do you know when to call the end to a dive rather than go on diving in a tired state. Have you donated a fin to a diver who lost a fin on a dive and is struggling too much without two fins. Diving on one fin sure is fun lol

 

[Blackcrusader]

My wife and I have exactly the same diving experience. Same training, same dives. Now, one thing to put in perspective is that neither the DM nor my wife have had the same feeling that I had. For them, everything was under control and there was nothing to worry about. We were not ascending too slow for them, we were not too far from the reef even though we were drifting, we still had visual and we were not in deco. And when we reached the reef at 25 meters, we had almost exactly the expected gas pressure in our tanks and we could see the bottle at 5 meters with no current.
Near miss, ok.

This was also your wife's SSI deep training dive to 40m?

How do you claim you had the expected gas pressure in your tanks when you use 11l/min on planning and use 14l/min average over the dive? This does not compute. Where the pony bottle is at 5m discard as you do not have that pony bottle with you. How close or far from a reef is irrelevant when you only need to worry about depth and not exceeding NDL. If you could not make it to the reef and this was a boat dive then the boat picks you up. I guess if you are ascending near the max ascent rate you are not ascending too slow As I wrote I never ascend near the max rate allowed.

 

[yle]

I am not questioning your knowledge but your attitude. A few of my PhD colleagues are the same. They might have big heads bot they are poor teachers.

It's unlikely a conversation with your PhD colleagues will involve you asking for advice about a new hobby you would like to pursue that could cause you serious injury or worse if you make a mistake. So there is a big difference between the advice Edward is trying to share with you and what your PhD colleagues might want to teach you.

With that said... Edward is an instructor. And as instructors, when we read a post like yours we assume you're looking for constructive criticism to help you improve your skills and ensure your diving is as safe as possible. Edward took the time to address every detail of your dive, telling you (in his expert opinion) exactly what you should consider if you want to improve.

You might not like to hear the criticism, but it is valuable advice if you are interested in becoming a safer diver and not rely on chance to get you back to the surface in the future.

My advice: carefully read Edward's posts and consider the spirit with which his criticism was given (i.e. he really wants you to be a safer diver.) Also, it's my opinion that BlackCrusader's posts are not particularly useful in that respect. Focus your attention on Edward's posts.

 

[yle]

This was also your wife's SSI deep training dive to 40m?

How do you claim you had the expected gas pressure in your tanks when you use 11l/min on planning and use 14l/min average over the dive? This does not compute. Where the pony bottle is at 5m discard as you do not have that pony bottle with you. How close or far from a reef is irrelevant when you only need to worry about depth and not exceeding NDL. If you could not make it to the reef and this was a boat dive then the boat picks you up. I guess if you are ascending near the max ascent rate you are not ascending too slow

This thread is in the "New Divers" forum and it appears the OP is looking for constructive feedback for his story of the dive. I'm having trouble finding anything constructive in your responses. That could be because I'm just dense.

But it could also be for other reasons.

 

[Blackcrusader]

This thread is in the "New Divers" forum and it appears the OP is looking for constructive feedback for his story of the dive. I'm having trouble finding anything constructive in your responses. That could be because I'm just dense.

But it could also be for other reasons.

There were 3 divers on this dive. It is a training dive with a first dive to 40m with a DM and not the instructor. Dody says all his wife's dives and his are the same so was asking clarification was he wife also doing the same training first deep dive to 40m. So that would be the DM with two students on a course then. I suggested he review the dive with his instructor. After all it was a training dive as part of a course.

 

[yle]

There were 3 divers on this dive. It is a training dive with a first dive to 40m with a DM and not the instructor. Dody says all his wife's dives and his are the same so was asking clarification was he wife also doing the same training first deep dive to 40m. So that would be the DM with two students on a course then. I suggested he review the dive with his instructor. After all it was a training dive as part of a course.

I've read all your posts on this thread, and you have said quite a bit more than what you have written here. In my post above, #115, I was trying to suggest that you might want to consider the purpose of this forum and the purpose of your posts.

 

[Raphus]

I think the use the bcd to ascent could be misunderstood.

The bcd is not an elevator. Its there to be neutral. If you start to ascent you should NOT use the bcd to become Positive buoyant.

The part: use the bcd to ascent, was only referred to down currents.


If you ascent normal Without strong currents.
Swim up, or breath yourself up(inhale to become slightly buoyant, and continously exhale).

Then dump air so you wont kork to the surface.

I just want to make sure, that the use your bcd part is not misunderstood.

Second: if you add a pony to your gear. Dont include that gas to your calculations. Its not there to use it. (i mean it is, but only in emergencys). If you include it in your gas planning, like you did with the 5m stage, its not really Redundancy anymore.

Also i recommended to show your wife this thread and talk about the stuff said here.

I dive with my GF as main buddy aswell and it is hard not to do her decisions. Because she is not that addicted to diving like myself. I have to force myself, to ask her what the plan might be. And let her do the calculations. Thats the only way i can be sure she is safe.
Nothing wrong in being the "leading buddy", but the knowledge should be equal.

 

[barth]

I think the use the bcd to ascent could be misunderstood.

The bcd is not an elevator. Its there to be neutral. If you start to ascent you should NOT use the bcd to become Positive buoyant.

The part: use the bcd to ascent, was only referred to down currents.


If you ascent normal Without strong currents.
Swim up, or breath yourself up(inhale to become slightly buoyant, and continously exhale).

Then dump air so you wont kork to the surface.

I just want to make sure, that the use your bcd part is not misunderstood.

Second: if you add a pony to your gear. Dont include that gas to your calculations. Its not there to use it. (i mean it is, but only in emergencys). If you include it in your gas planning, like you did with the 5m stage, its not really Redundancy anymore.

Also i recommended to show your wife this thread and talk about the stuff said here.

I dive with my GF as main buddy aswell and it is hard not to do her decisions. Because she is not that addicted to diving like myself. I have to force myself, to ask her what the plan might be. And let her do the calculations. Thats the only way i can be sure she is safe.
Nothing wrong in being the "leading buddy", but the knowledge should be equal.

When I want to ascent with 9 meter/minute and keep my body horizontally I will use my bcd to ascent.

It doesn’t make sense to keep my body vertically and swimming to ascent.

Usually I use my bcd to be neutral. But when I decent I will be negative. And when I ascent I will be positive.

During stops I will be neutral.

 

[Raphus]

When I want to ascent with 9 meter/minute and keep my body horizontally I will use my bcd to ascent.

It doesn’t make sense to keep my body vertically and swimming to ascent.

Usually I use my bcd to be neutral. But when I decent I will be negative. And when I ascent I will be positive.

During stops I will be neutral.

Ok i learned to breath myself buoyant.
After 1m the expanding air is adding to that effect.

I just think its not a good advice to a new diver to use the bcd as a elevator. I saw to many kork to the surface.

Then ofc (some) rules are there to break it. But only after learning them.


Best practice is in both ways to be buoyant.
And not to swim up.
But swimming up is not "wrong" in rec diving, especially as beginner it might be easier.